I'm Counting on You
by LastChancetoBreathe
Summary: I could still hear his earnest voice, "You're the only one I can depend on....I'm counting on you."


Disclaimer: I do not own Crisis Core or any of its' beautiful characters.

This is not a Tseng/Aerith fic. It is merely a hurt/comfort. I realize that Tseng may seem a bit out of character, but I am trying to show his softer side.

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She was fingering her hair ribbon again, a wistful smile on her face. Her slender fingers smoothed the sides of the ribbon and checked to make sure it was tied securely. Satisfied, she let her hands drop as she knelt down on the ground to tend to her flowers.

I watched Aerith work in silence, secretly admiring her gentleness. Everything she did seemed to have a certain natural grace to it. Even now as she gingerly dug out some flowers to put into her wagon, she still did it with care.

She paused in her work, her hands resting on the wagon. Running her fingertips along one of the wheels of the wagon, she let out a melancholy sigh. "Where are you, Zack? It's almost been a year. I've been waiting for you, but I get lonely at times."

I felt a twinge of guilt run through me. Though I honestly had no idea what _really_ happened to Zack, I could hazard a guess. He had last been seen on his mission to Nibelheim with Sephiroth. Either he had been killed when the general had lost his sanity, or he was being held prisoner somewhere. My gut told me it was the latter. Zack was too stubborn to die.

The young man's face popped into my mind, his face worried. I remembered seeing the way he looked at Aerith as she sold her first flower. I think it was probably the first time he really regretted being a SOLDIER. I could still hear his earnest voice. "_You're the only one I can depend on....I'm counting on you_."

I straightened, determined to do something for the absent young man. I emerged from the shadows of the church, deliberately making my footsteps loud.

Aerith turned to see who was coming and smiled disarmingly at me. "Good afternoon, Tseng. How are you today?"

She always amazed me how she could continue to be genuinely happy even when troubles came her way. I gave her a small nod of acknowledgment. "As well as can be expected. And you?"

"I'm doing fine."

I cleared my throat. Doing something nice for someone else certainly wasn't my forte. My voice came out in halted tones. "Aerith, I....that is....I...."

She tilted her head, emerald eyes curious and slightly amused. "Yes?'

"I have a proposition for you." There, I got it out.

"Proposition?"

"Yes. I know you and Zack are....well...I know you care for each other."

She was now listening with rapt attention.

"I want to...I want to help you in some way." This was turning out to be more difficult than I planned.

"Do you know where he is?" She looked so hopeful that I hated to disappoint her. But I couldn't lie, not to her.

I shook my head. "No, but I promise you, I'll be one of the first to know where he is. I'll get a message to him as soon as he appears again if you want."

Her face brightened. "A message? That's a wonderful idea, Tseng! Thank you!"

I stiffened as her arms wound themselves around my waist. I wasn't used to this blatant display of affection. I could see why she and Zack got along so well. Thankfully, she didn't hug me for very long.

She stepped back, tapping a finger to her chin. "I don't know what to say to him. Do you think he misses me?"

"Undoubtedly." I smiled. I thought of the boy in question. He used to flirt with any woman who walked past him, but that came to an abrupt halt when he met Aerith. When his one-track mind locked on her, it was rare to see him spend any of his free time away from her.

Aerith was kneeling by one of the pews now, pen and paper in hand. She was using the bench as her writing table. Apparently, she had thought of what she wanted to say because she was scribbling furiously on the page.

I waited with my arms crossed in front of me.

Two and a half pages later, Aerith finished writing and signed her name at the bottom. She folded the pages almost reverently and placed them in her envelope. Her pink tongue snuck out, licking the edges, before she carefully pressed down on the flap to seal it. She studied the letter with affection, one hand reaching up to tug on her ribbon again.

With a smile, she trotted back over to me and handed me the envelope. "Thank you, Tseng. You'll let me know if you hear anything from him, right?"

I nodded. "You'll be the first to know."

She stepped back to her flowers and began to put them into the wagon again.

I started walking away.

"Tseng?" She called after me.

"Yes?" I glanced back.

"If you see him, tell him he's going to have to grant quite a few wishes when he gets back." Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "He'll know what I mean."

"I'll be sure to let him know." I promised.

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A year passed with no word from Zack. Even I was beginning to be concerned. That bothered me. I was a Turk. I didn't get emotionally attached to anyone. But something about that spiky-haired ball of energy caused me to care. Maybe it was because he was the first man who had told me that he trusted me to keep the girl of his affections safe. Maybe it was because ever since I met Zack, he had taught me to break through the icy shield I had put over my emotions. Maybe it was because Zack had shown himself to be one deserving of admiration and respect because of his selfless sacrifice for his men and his friends. Or maybe....it was because I caught a glimpse of what true love was like when I observed the way he treated Aerith.

The girl was in the slums' playground today, selling her many-colored flowers. I glanced over at her again, only to frown in surprise when I discovered that she was no longer there.

"Tseng."

It was only due to my years of training that I did not jump when she appeared at my side. I looked down at her. "Yes?"

She was holding another letter. Was it number 22? 23? I had lost count a while back.

She bit her bottom lip as she held out the envelope to me. "Still no word?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Aerith. I'm still looking though."

"Thank you." She pressed the letter into my hand. "As long as there is a chance that he is alive, we should not lose hope. We can't give up on him. He promised he'd come back and Zack is a man of his word."

I just watched her as she retreated back to her wagon. I didn't want to discourage the girl, but I had a feeling that something terrible had happened to Zack. Because, as Aerith said, he was a man of his word and if he hadn't come back yet, then something drastic must have occurred to have prevented his return.

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The third year arrived. Aerith had slowly changed from the naive, timid flower girl to a calm, reassured young woman. She still had that sense of innocence around her though. Her clothing changed as well-instead of the sleeveless blue dress, she wore a more mature pink dress. I could see Zack's influence on her choice in color. He'd been the first one to suggest that she wear pink. Her dress matched smartly with the ribbon that had yet to be removed from her hair.

She was moving on with her life, but a part of her still clung to the hope that Zack was alive and that he was going to come back to her.

I sat beside her on one of the benches in the church. We stared at the flowers in comfortable silence. I could see a white envelope in her hand out of the corner of my eye.

She suddenly sighed. "Tseng?"

"Yes?"

"Am I holding onto a myth?"

I frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think that I'm blowing something out of proportion? I mean, I really don't know Zack too well. What if we were just friends? What if I'm lying to myself when I tell myself that he loves me?" Her pained green eyes shimmered with tears as she looked at me.

_Zack Fair, you'd better show up soon or you'll miss your opportunity for a beautiful romance_, I thought as I turned to the girl. I patted one of her hands. "Listen to me, Aerith. I may not be good at expressing my opinion on this sort of thing, but I can tell you without a doubt that Zack loves you. I know wherever he is right now, he's thinking about you. He wants to be with you. Don't give up on him."

A faint, watery smile crossed her features. "Thank you, Tseng. I won't give up on him. It's just...hard at times." She handed her envelope to me. "But here's letter 67. I'd better get back to my flowers."

I tucked the letter into my coat pocket, all the while thinking, _Where are you, Zack?_

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"We're going to save their lives."

I was so certain. Failure didn't seem possible. Zack was alive and fighting his way back home along with his friend. Aerith would be reunited with her lover and everyone would have a happy ending.

I should have known better. I was a Turk after all. I should know better than anyone that there are no happy endings.

But I still couldn't help the feelings of disbelief and anger at the injustice of life as I stared at the blood-stains where Zack's body used to lie. Many thoughts ran through my head as the dismal view sunk in.

_I should have looked harder for him. I should have sent the Turks out sooner. I should have-_

"It's a shame, man. Zack was pretty cool, yo?" Reno appeared beside me.

I wanted to throttle him for his calm, uncaring demeanor. But as soon as I turned to him, I could see that he was struggling with this death just as much as I was.

"What's that?" Reno crouched on the ground and picked up a stained piece of paper. His eyes scanned over its' contents. His face visibly grew more grim.

"What is it?" I asked.

He just shook his head and handed it to me.

As soon as I read the first line, I knew what it was. Aerith's 89th letter. She told me that she had written her last letter to Zack, but she didn't give it to me. I had no idea how the letter reached the SOLDIER, but the idea that this was the only one that he read made my heart ache even more. He had been held captive for four years and then, after being freed, he was hunted down like an animal, believing that his love was giving up on him.

I carefully folded the letter and turned to my waiting car.

"Where are you going?" Reno called.

"I have some important matters to attend to." I got in the car and drove off slowly, trying to delay the moment when I would have to tell Aerith that Zack was dead.

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There she was, sitting in the middle of her flowers. Her fingers were gently stroking the petals and brushing away invisible specks of dirt. She must have heard my approach because she looked up.

I was surprised to find that she was rather melancholy. That made my message just that much harder to bear. I knelt by the edge of the flowers and looked into her eyes.

"He's dead, isn't he?" She spoke suddenly, her face set in grim knowledge.

I frowned. "How did...who told you?"

"No one." She looked down again, idly fiddling with her flowers. "I felt him die. I guess....I guess that's why I kept holding on all these years, because I knew deep down that he was alive. But today, I....I felt his pain....he was thinking about me."

I wordlessly took the 89th letter out of my jacket and handed it to her.

Her lips quivered as she saw the blood on the page. "He didn't die easily, did he? He fought hard...and he suffered for it....didn't he?"

"I'm afraid so....but he died a hero, Aerith." I tried to comfort her.

She let the letter fall amidst the flowers. "He always talked about wanting to be a hero. I'm glad he got his wish." She sat there for a moment, sniffing. Then she stumbled over to me and collapsed in my arms, crying. "I loved him, Tseng! I loved him so much! I wish he had known how much I loved him."

I didn't know what to do. I didn't comfort people very well. I gingerly put my arms around her, rubbing gentle circles on her back. "I think he did, Aerith, otherwise I don't think he would have fought as valiantly as he did."

She continued to cry into my shoulder and I let her.

I could almost hear Zack saying, _Take care of her_.

"I will, Zack, I will." I whispered.

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I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


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